Shopping for a wedding gown is the most exciting experience for any bride-to-be. For women, the wedding gown is the most important dress they’ll ever wear in their lifetime, and they want it to be perfect as possible. Because of their excitement, some even begin their wedding planning journey by shopping for their wedding gown. This experience can fill brides with mixed emotions ranging from extreme anticipation to high levels of stress.
Although finding a dress can fill you with excitement, getting the right fit is also a lengthy process in itself. From boutiques, magazines, to Instagram, brides have different sources to find inspiration for wedding dresses. Among them all, bridal stores offer designer gowns at different budget ranges and styles to fit your ideal wedding outfit.
The overwhelming number of styles for wedding dresses can easily confuse and overwhelm even a well-prepared bride-to-be. The mixture of emotions sometimes leads you on the wrong path by making a few errors along the way. So before shopping for a wedding dress, it’s important to know your specific preferences and needs. That being said, here are the common blunders to avoid when shopping for a wedding dress and make your wedding gown experience a dream come true.
Choosing the wrong size
Your wedding may be the right excuse to exercise more and eat less, but forcing yourself to lose weight in a short amount of time will only lead to gruesome consequences. Wearing the wrong size calls for an alteration or replacement. The worse scenario is spending more money on a gown you don’t really like or starving yourself to lose weight.
The size for an average wedding gown is one to two sizes smaller than your casual clothes. Most brides often fixate on the actual size of the gown instead of the measurements provided by the designer. They get too hung up on the figures that they end up choosing the wrong size. Designers usually put up with these ladies who think they can lose weight before the wedding day.
The best thing to do is to play it safe by choosing a size that suits your current body type. From there, the designer can make a few adjustments by adding a few sizes without changing the form of the dress. Being realistic with your size is your safety net if you can’t reach your desired weight. If the gown didn’t end up fitting well, inform the designer for last-minute adjustments.
Buying a gown you don’t like
Here’s a fact: your Pinterest or Instagram feed are not the best sources for your wedding dress inspiration. Even your partner and friends are not the right authorities to influence your choices when picking your wedding outfit. This is a common mistake among brides who let other people influence their tastes instead of following their instincts.
It is a common tradition among brides to tag their closest friends or family member during dress shopping. Others even invite all their family and friends to get as many opinions as possible. It gives them a sense of assurance that their company will choose the best gown that looks good on them. But bringing too many people or asking the wrong ones leads to frustrating and overwhelming experiences.
Limit your guest list to less than four people, such as the maid of honor, your sister, and your mom. Having the closest people around you makes the experience more special and intimate.
If you’re having problems concerning the style, your own closet will tell you much about your personal preference. While checking your favorite outfits, identify their similar styles, features, and details. This will give you an idea of how you can channel your personal tastes on your wedding gown.
Setting an unrealistic budget
Women have a habit of trying out gowns beyond their price range. They can try it on, but doing this will only lead to disappointments and heartbreaks. Meanwhile, others who are brave enough exceed beyond their budget to get the dress they want.
Having a specific budget will make the shopping process easier. This also applies when setting the overall budget before planning the entire wedding. Instead of getting overwhelmed with opinions and selections, having a specific price range will narrow down your choices according to what you can really afford.
We hope the discussion above will make your wedding gown shopping easier. While there are plenty of styles and designs you’ll find, there’s only one that’s perfect for you. The key is not to settle or go overboard with your choices, what matters is to let your heart and instincts guide you.
